1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a method for processing a transaction that involves debiting or crediting a bank account.
2. Background Art
A prior method of paying for goods and/or services includes writing a check drawn against a checking account. It is also known to pay for goods and/or services by providing a checking account number to a merchant so that the merchant can initiate electronic transfer of funds from the checking account. Such transactions involving a check and/or a bank account, such as a checking account, may be referred to as check transactions. A known method for processing a check transaction includes entering transaction information, such as dollar amount of the transaction, check number and bank numbers, into a point of sale terminal. The terminal then communicates with an authorization source to obtain authorization for the check transaction. Once the transaction is authorized, the terminal captures or otherwise stores the transaction information. The transaction information is then uploaded to the host computer in batches and at certain time periods, such as at the end of each day, for settlement purposes.
If the authorization response sent by the host is not received by the merchant for whatever reason, such as failed communication link, the merchant will not know whether the transaction was successfully processed. As a result, the merchant may resubmit the transaction to the host computer. If the original transaction and subsequent transaction are both processed, the checking account may be debited twice.
Furthermore, under the above method, the merchant will not know whether the terminal accurately captured the transaction information. The merchant may also not know if the terminal accurately transmitted the transaction information to the host computer.